If You Were the Richest Person in the World, What Would You Drive?

Are you the type of person who would flaunt your riches with one of the most expensive and outrageous cars in the world, or would you go more low-key and blend in with the rest of society?

That’s an interesting question, and one that seems appropriate for a Friday!

The inspiration comes from a slideshow at Yahoo! showcasing the cars driven by some of the richest people in the world. I won’t rehash the whole list here, but there are some interesting choices.

Some of the more thought-provoking choices include that of Carlos Slim Helu, currently the world’s richest man, who drives himself around in a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. That’s fairly modest for someone with $70 billion in the bank. It’s actually surprising that he drives it himself. Seventy billion dollars could buy at a lot of chauffeurs.

Then there’s a guy like Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, who takes the word “modest” to a whole new level in his 1993 Volvo 240. That’s so odd… it’s almost cool. Kind of like Ikea.

Modern discussions of the world’s most affluent people aren’t complete without mention of Mark Zuckerberg, he of Facebook fame. It turns out he’s either just like all the other Gen-Y kids who don’t care about cars, or he has a secret stash of supercars in one of his garages. The car he’s been seen most in? A plain old Acura TSX. Boring!

When it comes to women, the second richest female in the world, Walmart heiress Alice Walton, drives a 2006 Ford F-150. At least she splurged for a King Ranch.

The entire list includes cars you might expect, like models from Audi, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and McLaren.

If I were the richest person in the world, my daily driver would be something fast but not outrageous. I’m thinking the Jaguar XKR-S. But I’d have a special garage built to hold my other hundred dream cars.

4 Comments

There are a number of cars I’d enjoy having and driving, most being older classics. For sure there would be at least one Auborn, Cord or Deusenburg. I think a Model T depot hack would be interesting too. As for modern cars, a V12 Jag, Ferrari and Porsche for sure. American cars, I’d really like to have an full electric like the Tesla. Our new Prius runs in EV mode at slower speeds and I really like the silence and smoothness. And of course, a nice John Deere tractor with front loader and back hoe.

There are a few cars I want but mostly standard ones like I want the Police Version Dodge Charger and a Ford F-150 Platinum and that would be about it, I couldn’t justify the couple hundred thousand dollar cars maybe a Ford GT is about as high as I would go, but if I was rich yet again that would open a can of worms…